BWW Previews: EURYDICE at Lake Lobby At Main Street Landing

Foul Contending Rebel's delightfully inventive production of Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice immerses the audience in a reimagining of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

The play moves between the world of the living and the land of the dead, performed with three-quarter thrust staging at Lake Lobby at Main Street Landing in Burlington.

In the original myth, Orpheus, a great musician, is in love with Eurydice, who is bitten by a snake and dies shortly after they marry. Orpheus, desperate with grief, travels to the underworld and convinces Hades to allow him lead Eurydice back into the world of living. Orpheus is warned not to look back as they leave the underworld. Orpheus does, of course, look back, and his action sends Eurydice back to the underworld permanently.

In Sarah Ruhl's play, Eurydice has a distinctive voice and a fraught relationship with Orpheus. Eurydice (Harley Winzenried) loves to read, but Orpheus (Eamon Lynch) questions the value of book-learning. Orpheus is preoccupied by his music, and frustrated by Eurydice's inability to carry a tune. Still, they are very young and very in love. After their wedding, Eurydice goes out for water and meets the "Interesting Man" (who is another sort of snake in a subtle parallel to the original myth) who doubles as Lord of the Underworld. Eurydice is enticed to go to the Interesting Man's (Katie Gilmartin) apartment, but runs away when he says he loves her. Eurydice trips going down the stairs, and falling like Alice in Wonderland down the rabbit hole (as Ruhl describes the set of Hades), she eventually arrives in the underworld via an elevator holding her suitcase and an umbrella. Her memories are gone, and when her deceased father (Ben Ash) greets her, she cannot remember him, or anything else for that matter, not even how to cry.

This dreamworld of the land of the dead is full of big human emotions; loss, love, grief and the pain of reclaiming memories. The ambiance of the soundscape, designed by Harley Winzenried, defines transitions fbetween the worlds of the living and the dead. Costumes (Grace Callahan) denote the passage of time, and bestow drollness on the Stones (Jillian Holland, Connor Kendall, Ellie Guyon) and fanciful spectacle for the Lord of the Underworld (Katie Gilmartin).

Foul Contending Rebels Theater Collective production, directed by Caitlin Durkin, uses the considerable physical skills of the actors, especially Harley Winzenried (Eurydice), to enhance the emotional power of the action, supported by movement coach, Tove Wood.

Durkin describes the play as a "feminist adaptation of a classic" myth, because it is Eurydice who determines the fate of the lovers, and not Orpheus, as in the original myth. Eurydice is not a model of a strong, self-actualizing woman but, more importantly, she learns to respect her own feelings and act accordingly.

Performances are Friday March 25th at 7:30pm, Saturday March 26th at 2:00pm and 7:30pm, and Sunday March 27th at 7:30pm. Tickets are offered on a sliding scale with a recommended price of $20.00. Tickets are available online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/224668037147 as well as at the door (cash only at the door).

Pictured: Harley Winzenried as Eurydice

Photo Credits: Caitlin Durkin